Sofia Patel absolutely nails the nexus between media reportage and terror. Terrorism is a strategy of desperation—that’s why it’s embraced by the marginalised. We in the media offer such actors a microphone, allowing them to …
Articles by: "Nic Stuart"
The Chief of Army’s conference was remarkably successful. That’s a truism, because those sorts of events always will be. Gather together a parade of senior officers who’ve known one another for years; all competing to …
Every morning I’m quite sure that two people wake up thinking, ‘thank goodness Nic Stuart isn’t a theoretical physicist’. I’m one. The other is my science teacher. The point of this revelation is that when …
Now everyone’s had their say. Some branded the decision to not nominate Kevin Rudd for UN Secretary General as puerile and pathetic, while others preferred to pretend the decision was simply a ‘difficult’ one on …
Just under a year ago Admiral Harry Harris was the keynote speaker at the ASPI Future Surface Fleet dinner. Immaculately attired in his starched whites he warned—with a firm delivery—that China is building a ‘great …
In a recent comment piece in The Australian, Peter Jennings urges action in the South China Sea. He’s quite correct. China’s island-building activities are clearly demonstrating Beijing’s determination to fundamentally alter the current situation by …
It all seemed so much easier in the old days. Equipment got old and it was replaced, like for like. Not always of course. Remember we used to have an aircraft carrier? In fact, at …
Every now and then a political earthquake shakes the land; an event that alters the frame of reference for years to come. Last week’s victory by British Conservative leader David Cameron is one such occasion. …
Police reporting—a catalogue of the worst crime, murders and personal tragedies occupying our underworld—was big in the 1980s. So I knew I was being given a break when told I’d be spending a couple of …
Yes, it’s a good thing that the debate about the possibility of buying the F-35B has ‘opened up’. But that’s simply because it’s good to talk. Politics will prevent it from maturing beyond a completely …
One of the most compelling passages in Thucydides’ detailed narrative of the Peloponnesian War doesn’t involve slaughter or killing. It comes instead when the ambassadors of Athens—the brilliant, cultural, democracy that has always been a …
A sudden hush came over the audience. The army commander, Lieutenant General David Morrison, had been addressing a packed amphitheatre at the ANU’s National Security College. His topic? Gender equality (not, note, equity) and female …